The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1887-07-20
ANOTHER WAR STORY.
SAID TO HAVE BEEN TOLD by JEF-
EERSOE DAVIS.

The Baltimore Morning Herald pub
fishes siX-column contribution giving
an account of recent important inter
views with Jefferson Davis. In these
interviews Mr. Davis, among many 9th
er things, charges that the Federal gov
crnment conspired during the late wal
to have him assassinated. On this sub
ject Mr.. Davis says:
"Whilo the Confederate government
was at Montgomery, Ala, in 1861, | re.
ceivej an anonymous letter from Phila.
dclphia, the substance Of which was that
the government of Pennsylvania had re-.
leased noted desperate from the pcni-
tentiary upon the condition that he
would so to Montgomery and assassi-
nate me, with the promise Of reward
OF $lOO,UOO ii he succeeded; that after
release the man stated that he could not
probably succeed alone, aud gave the
name of another convict Of character
like his own with whose assistance he
felt sure OF success, and that tho second
first.
"About thn time when this letter was
received l. was going from my Office to
my residence. ] observed man squat
ting down by the brick wall, which was
about three feet high and upon which
the yard pnling rested. | bad gone Il
few steps before The position OF this man
50 Impressed me as induced me to 90
and look after him. Then walking back
toward the corner of the fence behind
which nc vas crouching, sGw him look
ing rtho wall toward the gate through
which | was expected to enter, but Us |
reached the corner be jumped up and
ran toward the rear 81 the lot upon
which my residence stooi, whore there
was an alley. | followed him rapidly,
but when had reached the alley he had
disappeared. The only way in which ho
could have escaped appeared to be
through = gate which led INTO my stable.
Ihithcr went and found my servant in
the lott throwing down hay, who, upon
inquiry, denied thnt anybody had come
tIcrc. lie was servant ] had raised,
III whom, as / aftarwarl learned, | had Il
misplaced coniidoNcc. Accepting his
statement as true and making fruitlcss
search elsewhere, the hunt was abandon
cd. But the warning received was not
forgotten. The Commissnry General,
Colonel NCrthrop, my friend and old
army comradc, soon thereafter went
with me by rail to Richmond, and vas
on the alert during the whole trip tor
the rcNppoaraucc of the assassin.
81 sent the anonymous letter to Mr..
Wi! .'Am B. Reed, Of Philadelphia, ask
ing HIM to make such inquiry as would
verify or dlsprOyc its allegations. If nc
ever replied do not know, as commu-
nlcations were closed soon after that.
"'i mlc IN Richmond it was my habit
to ride out often IN the afternoon to visit
the defensive works we were construct
Ing around the capital. On ore occa-
SION, accompanied by my aid, Colonel
William Preston johnson, | had ridden
across Glllls creek and was going up the
creek and was going up the hill when a
rifle ball whizZcd just behind me and in
front OF Colonel Johnston, who was
riding by my side little in the rear.
Warning him to seem as if nothing had
occurred, we rode rapidly round an un-
occupied house, from which it was
Thought the shot must have been fired,
and FROM which we could see distinctly
the ground over which any one must
have He'd, II, after firing, he had taken
TO flight. No one was visible. After
returning to the city in the evening
Colonel Johnston went to the provost
marshal, who sent out some men moro
skllliul than we had been TO make fur
thcr search in the house.
"Thcy found i'll the upper story some
plank out OF the floor SO that they could
be removed, and underneath that found
man with rifle, who gave lame ac-
count Of himself as hiding there to avoid
conScnpuOn. His story of being en-
ploycd ut Il bakery III the city was found
upon inquiry mfoundcd. The next
morning L was notified that the man,
with liberal retainer III gold, had en-
ployed lawyer to sue out writ OF
habcas corpus. Aware that though the
clrcumstantial evidence might produce
moral conviction, that he would proba-
bly, DC discharged in compliance with the
writ, and that the man was of proper
age and physical vigor for soldier, /
directed him to be sent to General Lee
at Petersburg, with an explanatory note,
and the hope that he would bc put in
the front line to stop ball intended for
better man. What became of him |
never learned, matters of larger import
ancc engrossing the attention Of General
Lee, rs VOL as myself.
"On another occasion, returning from
an afternoon ride with my aid, Colonel
Joseph II. Davis, just as we entered the
suburbs of Richmond shot was fired
from behind high garden wall at very
close range, but without effect. We rode
up to the wall, and by rising in our stir
rups, looked over into the garden, but
no person could be seen. 1t was
twilight, and the shrubbery afforded
some means Of concealment and escape.
"Iherc were many reasons before the
Dahlgren raid for believing that efforts
inconsistent with the rules of war as
practscd by civilized nations were made
to secure assassination, especially of tho
president and to acquire information by
spies, reside! and transitory, and that
large rewards were offered for such scr
vices, including arson and murder.
''On one occasion when | was known
to be travelling on railroad to tho army
| inf or al 10 l. l.